John Peckham (Pecham) (1230-1292)

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Archbishop of Canterbury (1279-1292)

This was the first burial in the Martyrdom of St Thomas. The effigy of Peckham is of oak and lies upon a block of Purbeck Marble, which lies atop a table tomb probably of Reigate Stone.  Above is a shallow architectural canopy, also probably carved from Reigate Stone and originally painted.  The monument has been ascribed to the master mason at Canterbury Priory, known only as Michael of Canterbury. Peckham was a Franciscan and upon his death his body was buried at Canterbury, but his heart was presented to the Franciscans where it lay in the church of the Greyfriars in Faringdon, London.